When Kelly Conlon joined her daughter’s Boy Scout troop for a fun outing to watch the Rockettes perform Christmas Spectacular show at New York’s Radio City Music Hall, she had no idea she’d be booted from the moment she stepped into the building.
Security stopped Conlon, NBC New York reported, because of her work as a lawyer in New Jersey. It appears that Madison Square Garden Entertainment has begun using facial recognition technology to identify every visitor to one of its venues, including Radio City Music Hall, which is involved with a law firm actively involved in lawsuits against MSG Entertainment.
Conlon has never practiced law in New York and has never been personally involved in lawsuits against MSG Entertainment. Instead, she’s guilty by association, as an associate of Davis, Saperstein, and Solomon, who spent years embroiled in a lawsuit against a restaurant that NBC reported “now falls under the umbrella of MSG Entertainment.”
According to Conlon, she became aware of this alleged conflict of interest when security guards approached her in the lobby of Radio City Music Hall just as she was going through the metal detector. Over the loudspeakers, Conlon heard a warning about a woman wearing a gray scarf, after which security confirmed that the warning was about her, telling her, “our recognition picked you up.”
Despite Conlon assuring security that “I’m not a lawyer working cases against MSG,” she was escorted out. Ars could not immediately reach MSG for comment, but in a statement, MSG said the same would have happened to any lawyer associated with her firm, claiming her firm had been “twice informed” of MSG’s policy.
“MSG has implemented a simple policy that prevents attorneys who have an active lawsuit against the company from attending events at our locations until that lawsuit is resolved,” the statement to NBC said. “While we understand that this policy may be disappointing to some, we cannot ignore the fact that litigation creates an inherently adverse environment.”
A New York Times report suggests MSG began using facial recognition technology in 2018 to “bolster security.” MSG locations post signs informing visitors that the technology is being used. Ars couldn’t immediately reach Conlon for comment, but she told NBC she wasn’t a threat on the Rockettes show, insisting, “I was just a mom taking my daughter to a Christmas show.” She described her experience as “shameful” and “humiliating”.
Instead of going to the festive show with her daughter, Conlon waited outside. NBC reported that others blacklisted have sued MSG over the policy, viewing it as MSG’s way of punishing law firms going after the titan of entertainment. One firm has so far battled and won in court, becoming the lone exception to the policy, but MSG is still appealing that decision.
